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How does Google+ Communities work?

One of the best features of Google+ is the communities. It allows you to become part of the conversation and at the same time you can even promote your brand a little. But be careful not to become a spammer or you will be booted out faster that you can say Google!

But I am getting ahead of myself … Lets first have a look at how Google+ Communities work.

Google+ Communities is exactly what the name implies – a place where you can become part of something and interact with like-minded people. It brings people with the same interests together.

Basically it is Google’s version of Facebook Groups. It is a social network that covers any topic from photography to medicine. Anyone can start a Community and it can be run by a business, an individual or a group of people. Which means that you can act as yourself or in a business capacity – you can start a discussion or participate in any topic of your choosing.

Members of a community can interact with you or your business by sharing content, +1 or commenting on posts.

This in turn will create greater visibility for your content or product and you can have a direct connection with your audience. By monitoring comments and feedback you will also be able to alter the conversation around your brand if need be.

You can also post to communities privately or public. Private means that only the people in community will be able to see your posts, whereby posting public will make it available for everyone to see.

Creating your own community

In the top-left corner, click the drop-down menu (small arrow next to home), then click on Communities

In the top right-hand corner (next to the search box), click Create community.

Choose whether you want your community to be public or private.Public – Your community will be open to the worldPrivate – Only invited members can join the community and see posts.Important Tip: You can’t change this later, so be sure of your choice!If you click Private, you’ll also have to choose whether or not people can search for your community.If you click Public, you’ll also have to choose whether or not people need to ask for permission to join the community.

Type a name (make your name universal i.e. instead of using your company name, rather use an industry related term). Click on Create community.

Important Tip: If your community has 500 members or more, you can’t change the name, so think this through.

Note: Instructions are for a computer and might differ slightly if you are on a mobile device.